Silver Creek let's kill someone

@Grayson

there were worse things in the world to be doing than hanging under the stony protrusion of a granite shelf, watching as snow fell mutely and calmly down from a strangely grey sky. iliksis had seen that soft-white light before - it was an omen of a storm of unusual endurance, which meant for the next several hours he would likely be trapped in the location he had elected to rest in.

like i said, things could be worse.

with a catlike prowl he inched to the northern edge of the rim, stretching out in a way that seemed more panthera than canid. his yellow eyes were cast somewhere in that nebulous fog, where he thought he might have heard the tread of something approaching.

this title stress me out thank

it was easy. grayson was convinced.

aaron made life seem so hard, so challenging. grayson scoffed. it was easy if you knew who to talk to, where to go, what to do. and grayson did, simple as that. there were roles that you needed to play, and as long as you did your job your life would forever be smooth sailing. and so here he was, in the wilds, ready to do this shit. better than his father ever had, smoother than his father ever had. 

with him he'd brought along his family and some close friends. of course, they could've picked an easier time to come. whatever-- winter was harder, maybe, but grayson was still very convinced that this would go smoothly. 

it was snowing, of course, so the young, striking odolf broke off from the rest of the crew to see if he could scout out anything interesting or helpful. so far, nothing. until he spotted the dark mass moving throughout the territory. the fog was bothersome, grayson would admit, but he allowed for a deep boof to fall from his maw as he waited to be acknowledge. such a presence demanded to be acknowledged. grayson deserved it.

it's from skyrim (most of iliksis' thread titles are)! there's a follower you can get (cicero) who is.. just insane. but if you stand still for too long, in the background you hear him start to whine and then he goes "LET'S KILL SOMEONE!!" like he just found the best idea ever. i find video. here u go: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JDaeROTZdtg

there it was, the suspicion he had company made reality. from that trickling fog a male's greeting cut through sonorous and interrupting: it was almost as if the mist roiled and bucked as the sound passed through, parting in such a way iliksis' eyes were drawn to the beast.

he knew immediately he was looking upon a powerfully made man. iliksis studied him quietly, drawing from that immense frame an impression that were things to turn violent, iliksis would not be the victor. he carefully unfolded himself from the aegis of the stony shelter, moving in such a way that suggested he was non-threatening. he was not a beast prone to social activity -- but if grayson were to attempt to interact with him further, iliksis knew he would have no choice but to oblige.

o . m. gee.

the stranger removed himself from where he sheltered-- cowered. of course, grayson could not fault him for staying safe during the storm, not everyone was as bold and heroic as him-- to leave safety to gather intel on the area? grayson was a godsend. but what kind of man did not surround him with others so that he could be protected? grayson never found himself far from @Harrison or @Dawson -- who's scents were likely strong on his coat. it was possible they'd even loomed behind him. despite the fact that he was alone now, grayson knew that at any sign of danger, or if he had even an inkling of concern, he could call for his friends and family and they would be right there at his side.

what did this man have? this weak man. grayson had trouble even thinking him a man-- to be completely alone in the midst of the start of the cold season was among the stupidest things he could think to do. he expected it from a woman, but not another male. it was a death sentence. 

"you are alone," grayson commented idly, since the stranger did not acknowledge him, "you will die in the winter."

under that frowning lip of stone iliksis received grayson's edict, enduring the confidence of the brute's words with a sort of strangely twisted smile.  it ghosted on his lips malign as a spectre -- and then it too seemed to melt away.

grayson's decree was -- of course -- wrong.. but iliksis would not suffer to tell him that so coarsely. the wraith had been in the teekons nearly a year -- and had already endured winter's harsh bite the year before. perhaps it was the coyote blood in him, thin but obstinate, that made him ignore the biological alarm that would possess a lone wolf found at the edge of winter's descent.

iliksis was unafraid of the cold, for the same reason he was unafraid of the change of seasons. cold was never absolute; it was never unending. eventually, the frost broke -- eventually, dawn always came.

"i did not die last winter." he braved as the wind picked up around them, shifting columns of rolling fog. iliksis caught grayson's full scent then, detracting from the many odors the male was not alone. of course not.

but he was, and he would have to play carefully. "am i intruding?"

bold. perhaps not, but every winter was different, especially when you lacked common sense and any form of intellect. but, hey, whatever, not everyone could be as all-knowing and wonderful as grayson aaron odolf. winter was easy to him because he had all the necessary tools to face it. to thrive in it. this man had nothing but the coat on his back.

pitiful. grayson might've scoffed at his comment had his father not taught him more decency than that -- and also that being rude upfront did not get you as far as being snide only under your breath did. grayson would do that. 

"you're not," he responded with a quirk of his brow, "i plan on settling my wolves somewhere around here in the future. but i claim nothing today." not today. not tomorrow. but one day. the timeline remained uncertain, and so grayson gave this stranger none. instead, he offered something far more important and interesting.

"my name is grayson odolf."

it was an even-keeled wolf that didn't take affront to a stranger's intrusion - even if his claim was only in the infancy stages. iliksis was under the impression the man was somehow measuring him in a detracting manner - poking and probing and finding corruptible cracks and flaws.

the titan unfurled a name - it meant little to iliksis, but the way he spoke it, he may as well have unsheathed and brandished a fabled sword. iliksis had no such pride when he delivered his name - it meant nothing to the wolves of the teekon. just an unknown chapter of an unknown book, too terrible and filled with atrocities to ever see its spine creased and pages unfolded.

"iliksis." he returned, settling his limber frame into a cat-like perch. "you are their leader, then?"

"i am," returned the yearling, glad that his own leadership had been recognized-- as if he hadn't just inferred it himself. at least this man was capable of keeping up and reading words. 

grayson was unsure how he felt about this man, truthfully. something about him was unsettling, but grayson was also convinced that someone of such low intelligence could not be capable of anything dark or dastardly. he merely took it as the weather-- perhaps this man was ill. there were many options for why he was so strange, and why his aura was so fucked up. grayson didn't comment on it. in fact, he tried not to even think about it.

he was grayson aaron odolf, god damnit, nothing fucking scared him.

his nose twitched. "where will you go?"

it had seemed rather obvious to iliksis, at least by the man's almost unbearably confident deportment, that he thought rather highly of himself. to draw the conclusion he was a leader seemed simply natural -- what other wolf spoke with such haughty poignancy?

he supposed such men were easy to manipulate, if you sank your teeth on the right subject matter. most men lived lives desperate for validation. it was no wonder women had such strangely hidden power over them - all it took was a quiet word to gently stroke their confidence -- and then later, a not-so gentle stroke somewhere else..

iliksis gave a wan smile, wondering if this man had women -- and if so, how many..

"if you are asking me because you would like to see me leave, that request i can oblige." he spoke quite smoothly for a rapine monster -- he wondered if grayson had any idea at all. it didn't seem likely, given the way the man seemed to lord over him. "i know the area well enough, been here a few times myself. i suppose there is enough wilderness around us i could find something."

grayson shrugged. "i don't own this land," he repeated. truthfully, he didn't care if the dude stayed here. but if he was going to, grayson would rather know so he could plan for it. maybe the guy was stupid, but grayson felt he would make a capable guardian. if grayson knew the mans true intentions, he would surely run him off now. men ruled superior over the women in his pack, and they were emotionally quite manipulative, but there was no excuse for physical mistreatment of a woman. she could not defend herself, men should not take advantage of them like that.

but, alas, he could not read minds. so he opened his mouth. "but if you plan on staying, let me know. i will make accommodations for another," he offered, one ear swiveling forwards.

there it was -- the subtle invitation that had been lingering around them in the same shifting manner as the fog. iliksis had thought it might come, though hearing it from such an ostensibly proud man still surprised him. he supposed he had spent enough time around wolves to have reliably pegged the type: in this man, his true strength was in numbers.

a slithering pleasure threatened to overcome iliksis' cordial facade, but masterfully he buried the sinister sneer, and politely spoke: "that would be nice." for him, anyway. certainly not nice for those who had to abide his presence. "what are you and your wolves called?"

"we are of rosings," he said, his other ear swinging forwards to join the first. 

he added, because he knew not everyone was of the same moral code of him and his family, "we abide by strict tradition. you're a man, you'd be expected to pull your weight as such. hunting, protecting, of the sort." it made sense to grayson, but it was how he had grown up. how he was raised. this was a system of tasks that made sense to him. he meant to continue on, but he would not bore the stranger right off the bat. and he wanted to first gauge his reaction before he shared the rest. he still asked, "does this fit you?"

rosings.

it sounded delightfully... innocent. he wondered if like the flower, it was aesthetically beautiful and incredibly fragile once plucked from its thorny vein; like a woman, iliksis supposed. held in the hand it was a thing of incredible radiance, yet cloyingly simple to commit to rot.

rosings. the roles the man explained bemused iliksis, who then wondered if it was the men's duty to protect, then surely it was the woman's duty to serve? an ugly and almost hateful gleam briefly flickered in his yellow gaze, though it was largely concealed by the dull flick of his heavy eyelids.

strict tradition .. the words had a different meaning to him, as he thought back to the barbaric rites of himminrond. their strict tradition would make grayson's toes curl, iliksis thought smugly. "it's man's duty regardless of tradition," he parroted back, poking carefully at the man's morals, trying to instill a basis of trust. "so, that fits me rather well." 

and of the women? he thought hungrily, feeling that question press sickeningly against his tongue. he would wait for it to come up in their conversation naturally before inquiring, his mouth kept shut with a firm sort of resolution.

he wasn't surprised, necessarily, to hear ilkisis say such a thing. but the comment was interesting all the same. if it caught him off guard, grayson did not show it. "good," he responded, not yet making any mention of the women, "then if you choose to stick around, you'll fit in fine." 

he waited for a response, if any, and then grayson added-- like a casual afterthought, though to some this was a rather alarming shift in lifestyle. "eventually i will be pairing up wolves. you'll have a wife, chosen by me," he informed him, tail flicking, brow quirking as he waited a reasonable reaction, "you'll find i'm a fine matchmaker." at least, grayson assumed. he was good at everything else.

iliksis didn't expect that casual afterthought to slip in there -- especially in not such a bizarrely rewarding way. he chewed over this new piece of information rather carefully, and if grayson chanced to look over him during this time, he would likely catch the dark wheels slowly churning in iliksis' distant mind.

a wife, paired? as in, duty-bound and obligated to subject herself to him? in himmonrond the worthy men took thralls as their own - they violently coupled with any they wished on a whim - the thralls there served to simply arouse and satiate their pleasure, little more.

this was not so different, save, iliksis thought he suspected the hint of monogamy being expected in such choice words. after all, wife had been singular.

no matter, thought the bastard -- he could slither into the dens of those women, while the men were out protecting. already he had visions of serial polygamy -- visions of slinking into some helpless wretch's den, flinging her downward against the cold stone floor, filling her with the hot, explosive rush of his vile seed -- oh, rosings would do indeed.

he was interested.. perhaps too interested; it showed in the light of those sullen yellow eyes. "a wife..?" his voice rasped delightedly. "that sounds like a high honor. i will do what i can to deserve it."

iliksis had been sitting while they spoke, but now he rose -- keeping care to have his head never raised higher than grayson's own. "what other duties do the men have?"

he seemed intrigued, which grayson found was the reaction of most men when the prize of a woman was offered. so, despite the unsettling aura that this man had, grayson could not pin him as a hazard of safety. the promise of sex was pleasing to all-- himself included. he nodded once, not solemnly. it was a high honor, and grayson could only hope he meant his word.

"the same any would in any pack. defend, hunt, keep the pack in order. protect our woman, they're the key to the next generation," he told the man. it seemed simple as that-- and it was.

a woman being a key: iliksis, for the second time in their short conversation, seemed to overturn this statement and inspect it. he had always thought of the warm thighs and soft opening of a woman more like a keyhole, and his dick the key -- but he supposed if this wolf was concerned about the coming generations (as it seemed he was) iliksis could gladly do his part to ensure it.

his composure was kept gravely interested, despite the rotted delight that spread luxuriously out within his aching body. "that seems reasonable." he concluded, shaking off the snow that had quietly accumulated on his back during their conversation. "where were you staying? there's a few old dens nearby - just north of the creek's mouth. found them earlier this morning." he didn't add he had been looking for something else when he found those dens -- which, by the looks of things, had once been inhabited by wolves long ago.